So, I have my 3G iPhone in my grubby little hands. Initial reaction is obviously one of complete overexcitement, together with a realisation of just how grubby my hands are - that shiny black back sure does pick up fingerprints.

However, there are numerous improvements that make it still the most exciting thing I've seen in a couple of months. A big one for me is that fact that you can now remove the SIM card (they even provide a little prodder). That's probably only useful for me, since I have my own O2 SIM I wanted to use in the review model. Still, it's an indication that Apple has become a lot less proprietry with this model - something that's reflected throughout.

With the dawn of third party apps, Apple seems to have said "ok, here's your basic iPhone - it's now up to the developers to make it all it can be". Amen to that, I say.

And if you're worried about availability, don't. O2 hopes that everyone who desperately needs an iPhone in the next couple of weeks will get one, and they're receiving new stock on a weekly basis. There's less positive news about the white version - this isn't available at lauch, and though O2 will be stocking it at some point, there's no indication as to when this might be (or indeed, why it's not now).

I've yet to load the phone up with apps, but it's what I'll be dedicating the next few hours to. I'm most excited about the apps that use the GPS functionality - Twitterific displays location info for Tweets so you know when your friends are in the vicinity. Genius.

Well, I'm off to play. Keep checking back - I probably won't be able to help but to give you hourly updates.

more............